Electric fans fail to lower the body temperature of seniors during heat waves, research shows

A team of physiologists from the University of Ottawa’s Human and Environmental Physiology Research Unit reports that use of an electric fan during periods of high temperatures by the elderly does not lower core body temperature. In their studypublished in JAMAthe group conducted experiments with elderly volunteers using fans at high temperatures.

As parts of North America have been hit by several heat waves, large numbers of elderly people have died from heat stroke. This was notable because of the location of many of the deaths: the Pacific Northwest, where extremely high temperatures are rare. Due to the rarity of such high temperatures, many people in the region do not have air conditioners.

Previous research has shown that older people are at greater risk of dying from heat stroke because they are less able to lower their body temperature. A notable problem is less efficient sweating.

During heat waves, officials in affected regions suggested that elderly people without access to air conditioning use electric fans to stay cool. In this new effort, the research team tested the approach to see if the advice was valid.

The researchers recruited 18 people, ages 65 to 72, who sat in a climate-controlled temperature chamber with an electric fan. The temperature and fan settings were both controlled by the research team. All volunteers were monitored during the experiments to ensure they did not overheat.

The researchers kept the temperature in the room at a constant 36°C, with a humidity of 45%. The fans had three speed settings: off, slow and fast. All three settings have been tested with the volunteers.

The researchers found that neither the slow nor fast modes had any measurable impact on core body temperature; it was the same as if the fan was turned off. They also found that the slow setting did little to make the volunteers feel cooler, but the fast setting did, which they thought was dangerous. Feeling somewhat cool, the volunteers did not realize that their body temperature could rise to dangerous levels.

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